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A Modest Proposal  —  LAV Alternative  — Turret Mortar from TUA?

Update: Aug 2007 – GDLS-C was awarded a $49.2M contract to rebuild 33 surplus LAV TUA hulls as LAV-RWS Infantry Section Carriers

The LAV TUA Project proceeds but, according to RumInt, at a much reduced scale. If accurate, instead of the planned 71 wheeled TUAs being fielded, only 33 conversions will  be done. This leaves 38 turretless LAV IIIs without a mission. One plan is to fit these hulls with RWS (remote weapon stations) turning the LAV into infantry section carriers to pad out  the Bison ISC ranks. This is a good plan and  quick to implement. [1]

LAV-M  or  Why Trust One Turret and Not Another While the simplicity of creating a 'Bison 2' appeals, it also puts us in mind of alternative roles for the LAVs. The CF may have little call  for anti-armour vehicles at present but it could use wheeled fire support vehicles. An existing system that may  provide a quick solution is Patria's 120mm NEMO ( New Mortar ) turret. This is an unmanned turret  –  loaders  feed ammunition trays from within the hull,  rounds are then presented to the breech automatically. Breech-loading  mortars like this are able to provide direct fire support [2] plus the more obvious mortar indirect fire support role.

The Patria NEMO is not to be confused with AMOS, its imposing twin-barrelled kin (left). The latter has a tremendous rate of fire but weighs almost 4 tonnes – the more compact NEMO weighs only 1.5-t. Another mortar turret is the 2.5-t AMS which would no doubt be the preference of  GDLS  which has stakes in both turret and LAV hulls. Such close associations do not necessarily serve the 'customer'. This time, however, we are in control. The CF has LAV hulls and  Patria has a light, compact turret. [3]

[1] There's no attrition plan to replace Bison (or LAV IIIs for that matter) worn out by the Afghan deployment. Converting turretless LAV TUAs into ISCs effectively reinvents the  M1126 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle.  Not a bad 'Bison 2'  and  with LAV III commonality too. [2] The NEMO turret traverses 360° and its 3m barrel has an elevation range of  -3° to +85°  –  compared with the MGS'  -10° to +20° range. Shell range for the flat-trajectory 105mm MGS gun is about 2 km.  A NEMO smooth-bore mortar round has a maximum range of over 10 km. [3] This would seem to be an ideal  IOR. The numbers required in Afghanistan would be small  but  Patria would likely be highly motivated to integrate their turret onto the LAV III hull. Patria builds a rival 8x8 LAV, the AMV. Integrating the NEMO turret onto the Piranha / LAV III series would be a feather in their corporate cap. The AMV is very slightly larger than the LAV III (another reason to avoid the AMOS ).